How to Organize a Bedroom

*If you share your bedroom, you may want to make this a couple’s activity. Or at least consult your partner before you throw out his or her stuff.

Of course you will have to start with the stuff on the floor, since it can be difficult to get to the other parts of the room unless you deal with these piles first. If you also have stuff on the bed – besides sheets and blankets of course – throw it on the floor too. Yes, you read right. Throw it on the floor. You will need a flat open space to work with, and right now the bed is a better bet.

Once you have everything on the floor, you will want to pick it up and put it on the bed – but neatly. Before you do that you will want to create three piles: a keep pile, a giveaway pile, and a trash pile. Items in the keep pile can go on the bed as-is. Those in the giveaway or trash pile should be put in a box or a trash bag, respectively.

Take inventory of your keep items and see if they actually belong in the bedroom. Items like dog toys and screwdrivers should be put back where they belong. After this, you should be left with basically clothing and maybe some books and electronics. Leave them be on the bed for now.

Now you will want to go through the closets and dressers and create three piles all over again. Since the floor is now clear you can use it as your sorting area. Leave clothing that is already on hangers that way and try not to unfold folded clothing. It will save you some time when putting it back.

Chances are you will have some clothes that were simply wadded up or thrown in a heap. Sort through these clothes and determine which are dirty and which are clean. Of course, you will want to wash the dirty clothes before you put them away, so throw them in the hamper or in the hallway for now. Take the clean clothes and fold them up to put in a drawer or put them on hanger.

If you’re hanging your clothes, be sure to use hangers that are appropriate to the item of clothing. For example, skirts and dresses may need hangers with clips so that they don’t fall on the floor. Same with ties and scarves. Make sure your hangers all face the same way in the closet so they don’t get tangled up.

Also, if you share a room, divide the closet in half or use separate ones if you can. This will help with frantically grabbing clothes to wear in the morning. You won’t grab a men’s button down when you’re looking for a skirt.

If you’re putting your clothes in drawers, organize your drawers according to type of clothing, such as t-shirts, jeans, socks, etc. Any item you have a lot of should get its own drawer, even if that means pajama pants or kilts. This will make it much easier to find things when you get dressed in the morning. Feel free to have a miscellaneous extras drawer for items that don’t fit anywhere else.

It may sound a little hokey, but go ahead and label your drawers if you can’t remember where you put things. You can always take the labels off when you have company. Got a roommate? Separate drawers or even dressers are the way to go.

*If you have too much clothing for your amount of closet or drawer space, consider packing the clothes that are out of season up and putting them in your attic.

Too Many Shoes?
Okay, so you can’t have too many shoes, but if you end up with a pile of shoes on the floor with nowhere for them to go, buy a hanging shoe rack and put it in the closet or get a freestanding one and put it against the wall. No one likes tripping over stiletto pumps at three in the morning.

Since you have been neglecting your bedroom, in all likelihood you have not washed your sheets in a while. Strip the bed and take all of your bedding to the laundry room. Bring your dirty clothing with you too and give everything a good washing, no matter how many loads it takes. You want to start out with a clean slate.

Nothing makes a bedroom look better than a nice, freshly made bed. Don’t forget the hospital corners. Then, hang up or fold all of your newly clean clothes.

Now that you’ve got your clothing taken care of, you can move on to other things you might have in your bedroom like books, cosmetics, or DVDs. As far as books and DVDs go, decide if you really need them in the bedroom or if they’d be better off in the living room, office, or den. If they are there to stay, stop by your local housewares store and pick up racks or shelving to accommodate them. Freestanding shelves will give you more room on your dresser top. Don’t have the floor space? Hang them on the wall.

The last step to a satisfyingly clean bedroom is to dust and vacuum or sweep. It should be easy to do now that you’ve removed the clutter from the floor and furniture.

Once your bedroom is clean, you will want it to stay that way. Avoid ending up with another mess by putting away your clothing as soon as it passes through the doorway. Make a vow to sweep or vacuum the floor and do laundry once a week or sooner if the hamper is full.